The **MOST** Amazing No-Fail CUPCAKES & FROSTING!

Happy November crafty friends! There are so many great cupcake recipes out there, but this one is my FAVORITE because it’s the easiest and tastiest recipe I have used when making my own cupcakes. It’s so easy it’s almost creepy if baking can be creepy. It’s a cheater recipe because you start from a cake mix. I got this recipe from my dear friend Teresa and about DIED when I found out that it was only a few ingredients.

EASIEST NO-FAIL CUPCAKE RECIPE

1 cake mix (I use yellow cake mix or white cake mix)

3 eggs

1 tsp almond flavoring

YES, THAT’S IT, no water or oil or other liquids! All you do is mix the ingredients together and fill cupcake liners halfway. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 14 minutes, remove and let cool. Voila! Now onto the frosting…

I modified this buttercream recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook. I love this recipe because it’s buttery, and have a very well-rounded taste. Here it is:

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

pinch of salt

2 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Beat this mixture for 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. ENJOY and try not to eat the whole bowl.

PIPING BAGS & TIPS:

When you are done with the light and fluffy buttercream mixture, add the frosting to a piping bag. My favorite one is from Orson Gygi and it’s the 14″ bag. With that I use one of two tips. My very favorite tips for this are the ATECO brand #808 the simple circle one or #826 which is the star looking tip. Depending on my mood, I use either of these.

I have mentioned on Instagram where I’m @craftykirsten, that I don’t like cupcakes. I really just like to decorate them and give them away so next time I make some, I will bring them to you if you live nearby! Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry, but this was the biggest Pinterest fail ever. Maybe, it’s the brand of cake mix I used, Duncan Hines. This was the thickest cupcake mix ever when I followed this recipe. It was like bread dough, and my mixer struggled to mix this batter entirely. I still attempted to bake these cupcakes, and after 14 minutes, they were a huge gooey mess. Try a different recipe. I’m sad, because I was so excited to spruce up a box mix; unfortunately, this was not the recipe to do it with.

If you want to spruce up a box of cake mix (and I mean, really how much easier does it need to be than a box of cake mix) try just adding one additional egg than the box calls for, use milk instead of water, and melted butter instead of oil. It’s decadent and I have fooled many a “from scratch only” snob with this method lol!